Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 9, 2023 is: unctuous  \UNK-chuh-wus\ adjective  
Unctuous is a formal word used to describe someone who speaks and behaves in a way that is meant to seem friendly and polite but that is unpleasant because it is obviously not sincere. It can also mean “fatty,” “oily,” and “smooth and greasy in texture or appearance.”

// Politicians are often at their most unctuous during election years, full of empty promises made solely to win over certain voters.

// Braising chicken thighs with their skins on creates a rich, unctuous sauce that can be spooned back over the finished dish.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unctuous)
  
  
Examples:
  
“The fate of a [sycophant](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sycophant) is never a happy one. At first, you think that fawning over the boss is a good way to move forward. But when you are dealing with a narcissist … you can never be unctuous enough.” — Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, 18 June 2022  
  
Did you know?  
   
Nowadays, unctuous usually has a negative connotation, but it originated as a term describing a positive act: that of healing. The word comes from the Latin verb unguere (“to anoint”), a root that also gave rise to the words [unguent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unguent) (“a soothing or healing salve”) and [ointment](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ointment). The oily nature of ointments may have led to the use of unctuous to describe things marked by an artificial gloss of sentimentality. An unctuous individual may mean well, but the person’s insincere effusiveness can leave an unwelcome residue—much like that of some ointments.

unctuous

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 19, 2024 is: underwhelm  \un-der-WELM\ verb  
To underwhelm someone is to fail to impress or excite them.

// Despite the hype, the movie underwhelmed most reviewers, who criticized its slow pace and poor special effects.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underwhelm)  
  
Examples:
  
"Wake me up when NBA All-Star Weekend ends. Let’s start with the Dunk Contest, which is supposed to be the most exciting event. It wasn’t. Most of the dunks, and the judging of said dunks, underwhelmed." — Zachary Pereles, CBS Sports, 19 Feb. 2024  
  
Did you know?  
   
[Overwhelm](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwhelm) and its rare synonym [whelm](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whelm) have both been around since the Middle Ages, but underwhelm is a 20th-century coinage. Both overwhelm and whelm come from the Middle English whelmen, meaning "to turn over" or "to cover up." Underwhelm is a playful overturning of overwhelm that is well suited for contexts in which something fails to excite. As is often the case with younger words, there is a certain amount of misinformation regarding where underwhelm came from. We have seen reports that the playwright [George S. Kaufman](https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-S-Kaufman) coined it, and also that the famed sportswriter [Red Smith](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Red-Smith) claimed to have used it first. Neither of these is likely to be accurate, for the simple fact that there is evidence that underwhelming was used, albeit as an adjective, before either of these men was born.

underwhelm

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 18, 2024 is: qua  \KWAH\ preposition  
Qua is a preposition used in formal speech or writing that means “in the capacity or character of (someone or something).” It is used synonymously with [as](https://bit.ly/3uUyo87) to indicate that someone or something is being referred to or thought about in a particular way.

// The artist qua artist is less interesting to me than the artist as a human being.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/qua)
  
  
Examples:
  
“He [Charlie Chaplin] financed his own films; he wrote them; he took music credit; he even choreographed. Most of the cast and crew were on his payroll. He even co-owned his distribution company. The box-office take went straight into his pocket. He was not beholden to anyone, but he was not indispensable, either. Losing the Chaplin studio had a negligible impact on the movie business qua business.” — Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
A preposition is a word—and almost always a very small, very common word—that shows direction (to in “a letter to you”), location (at in “at the door”), or time (by in “by noon”), or that introduces an object (of in “a basket of apples”) or a capacity or role (as in “works as an editor”). As such, prepositions tend not to attract as much attention as other parts of speech (unless there is some [foofaraw](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foofaraw) about whether or not it’s [okay to end a sentence with one](https://bit.ly/432mvJS)). Qua, however, though very small is not very common—at least in everyday speech or writing. As one 20th-century usage writer commented, “Qua is sometimes thought affected or [pretentious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretentious), but it does convey meaning economically.” Qua’s meaning is quite specific—it can substitute for the phrase “in the capacity or character of” or the preposition [as](https://bit.ly/3uUyo87) in the right context, as in “they wanted to enjoy the wine qua wine, not as a status symbol.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2024 is: circumlocution  \ser-kum-loh-KYOO-shun\ noun  
Circumlocution refers to the use of many words to say something that could be said more clearly and directly with fewer words. Usually encountered in formal speech and writing, circumlocution can also refer to speech that is intentionally [evasive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evasive).

// The judge coughed and pointed to her watch, clearly impatient with the attorney's tiresome circumlocutions in defense of his client. 

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumlocution) 
  
  
Examples:
  
“The slight stiltedness of her … English merges with the circumlocution of business-school [lingo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lingo) to produce phrases like ‘the most important aspect is to embrace a learning mind-set’ and ‘I believe we’re going to move forward in a positive way.’” — Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
In The King’s English (1906), lexicographers [H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler](https://www.britannica.com/biography/H-W-Fowler) advised, “Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.” It’s good advice: using more words than necessary to convey a point can confuse and annoy one’s audience. Circumlocution itself combines two Latin elements: the prefix circum-, meaning “around,” and locutio, meaning “speech.” In essence, circumlocution may be thought of as “roundabout speech.” Since at least the early 16th century, English writers have used circumlocution with disdain, naming a thing to stop, or better yet, to avoid altogether. Charles Dickens used the word to satirize political runarounds in the 1857 novel [Little Dorrit](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Little-Dorrit-novel-by-Dickens) with the creation of the fictional Circumlocution Office, a government department that delayed the dissemination of information and just about everything else.

circumlocution

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 16, 2024 is: inalienable  \in-AY-lee-uh-nuh-bul\ adjective  
Something considered inalienable is impossible to take away or give up.

// The American ethos is built on the belief that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inalienable)  
  
Examples:
  
"Despite the hurdles, comedians continue to negotiate their inalienable need to do stand-up to the point that money comes as a secondary concern." — Jake Kroeger, The Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Alien, alienable, inalienable—it's easy enough to see the Latin word alius, meaning "other," at the root of these three words. [Alien](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alien) joined our language in the 14th century, and one of its earliest meanings was "belonging to another." By the early 1600s that sense of alien had led to [alienable](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alienable), an adjective describing something you can give away or transfer to another owner. The word [unalienable](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unalienable) came about as its opposite, but so did inalienable, a word most likely borrowed into English on its own from French. Inalienable is the more common form today, and although we often see both forms used to modify "rights," it was unalienable that was used in the [Declaration of Independence](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Declaration-of-Independence) to describe life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

inalienable

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 15, 2024 is: purloin  \per-LOYN\ verb  
To purloin is to take something that belongs to someone else—that is, to steal it. Purloin is much more formal-sounding than [steal](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steal), but is often—though not always—encountered in humorous contexts, suggesting that the theft is not serious.

// The puppy managed to purloin a few cookies from the plate when no one was looking.

// The studio stepped up security, fearing that someone might attempt to purloin a copy of the script for the show’s season finale.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purloin)
  
  
Examples:
  
“The pitch for every tax scam is the same: ‘We will help you avoid paying the IRS.’ While there are hundreds of legitimate ways to reduce your federal income tax bill, fraud merchants purloin millions through what the IRS calls its ‘Dirty Dozen.’ Most of the swindles involve bogus tax breaks.” — John F. Wasik, Forbes, 5 May 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Picture a pie cooling on a windowsill. Peach, possibly, or perhaps plum—with perfect perfumed plumes puffing out from the holes poked in its crust. And then, suddenly, the pie is gone (as is our [alliteration](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alliteration), at least for now). Those familiar with the classic pie-windowsill thievery of cartoons and comics know that the dessert has not been merely stolen, or even swiped, but purloined! Purloin comes from the Anglo-French verb purluigner, meaning “to prolong, postpone, or set aside.” English speakers of the 15th century borrowed purloin to use it in much the same way, applying it when someone sets something aside, concealing it so that it cannot be used by someone else. The sense meaning “to steal” developed not long after in the same century. The whiff of unseriousness often carried by purloin is not a constant; even today, it is common to read reports of people purloining large sums of money, not just delicious plum pies. But purloin does tend to carry the same particular piquancy as [pinch](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinch) and [pilfer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pilfer).

unctuous

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